Bills notebook: Mixed reaction to Edwards' promotion

Friday

or a 2-4 football team, the Buffalo Bills provided plenty to talk about at Wednesday’s weekly gathering of the Western New York media.

For a 2-4 football team, the Buffalo Bills provided plenty to talk about at Wednesday’s weekly gathering of the Western New York media.

The big news, of course, was the official announcement that rookie Trent Edwards has supplanted J.P. Losman as the team’s starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. Just as interesting, though, was the reactions of other team members.

Here’s what a few prominent members of the team said about the decision:

- “If that’s the decision that they decided to go with, then that’s the decision we have. Regardless of anything else outside of that, that’s what we have to go with,” wide receiver Lee Evans said.

- “I guess they feel like he’s the best guy to lead this football team and I think he does everything out there they want him to do, so I think that’s why they kept him in there,” safety Donte Whitner said.

- “It really doesn’t matter. If he’s our quarterback, my job is to protect whoever is back there so that’s what I do. I let the decision-makers make their decisions and I just protect,” running back Marshawn Lynch said.

One step at a time

It’s baby steps for the run defense, which has worked its way out of the basement of the league standings.

The Bills allowed Baltimore’s Willis McGahee to rush for 114 yards on 19 carries, but the bulk of that came on one possession. McGahee gained 72 yards on four carries to start the third quarter, but managed just 2 yards on four carries the rest of the game.

“When you stop the run, you make teams become one dimensional,” Whitner said. “You get to let (Chris) Kelsay and (Aaron) Schobel get to the quarterback, force some turnovers, get some sacks, get them in third-and-long and that’s what we like to do. When you do that, it makes our job in the back end a lot easier.”

Before the bye week, the Bills had held both Dallas and the New York Jets to fewer than 100 yards rushing. Those performances have helped the Bills rise to 25th in the league against the rush, allowing an average of 132.5 yards per game.

“There’s a lot more turning around to do,” Whitner said.

Ready to run

Lynch’s performance has been met with positive reviews through the first six weeks of the season, but the fact remains the rookie from Cal has yet to rush for 100 yards.

That may change in the next three weeks, though, as Buffalo faces the 28th-, 27th- and 31st-ranked run defenses in the Jets, Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins, respectively.

Lynch said being limited as he was during the preseason made developing chemistry with his teammates difficult.

“I’m really getting a handle on the game and starting to understand and get a feel for my teammates and what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it,” he said. “That’s something I feel that I wasn’t doing. Especially from preseason, just going in and getting two or three plays, I couldn’t get the feel of the team, but as it went on I really started to get it.”